Why should you have a wedding video?

How many times I’ve had a guest at a wedding watch what I am doing and then tell me that they desperately wished they had had their own wedding filmed. They have the photographs and every wedding should have a photographer but those same photographs, good as they are, lack two vital elements….sound and movement.

I should just say that the role of a photographer and a videographer are different. Photographers tend to organize the bride and groom, family and guests into groups for the pose that they require. They know what works for them and that is what they do. A videographer like myself has a slightly different goal, to capture the fluidity as the wedding day unfolds, the heightened emotions as the couple become one, the laughter and tears, the cheers and the speeches, the music as the couple take to the floor for their first dance, the best wishes from everyone, the vows and everything that isn’t a single moment in time.

These are the elements that an experienced wedding videographer is looking for, who knows to anticipate and recognize certain signs, to be at the right place at the right time, to absolutely not miss crucial moments as they happen. This is why I don’t have ‘packages’ on my website. I like to film the whole day from beginning to end because that’s where the story is, the complete story which isn’t there if we were to only film the ceremony or the the speeches.

So many grooms tell me how wedding’s tend to organize themselves. Yes, it’s a joke, often told with a chuckle, but generally, the bride herself has lived this wedding day for months going over every single detail, balancing the budget, choosing the flowers, the wedding dress, the bridesmaids outfits, the stationary, the photographer, the rings, even the table decorations down to the last detail and hopefully, if there’s any budget spare, maybe even a videographer.

Think about this…imagine yourselves thirty years down the track. Your grandchildren have come to visit and they see your wedding photo on the mantelpiece. They ask you what the day was like and you show them the photos. Wouldn’t it be fantastic if you could show them a film of your day with all the sounds and action that goes with a wedding day? It would be like your grandchildren were there themselves.

Nowadays, everyone seems to have a mobile phone and those same phones have the ability to record video. I see it all the time at every wedding but…here’s the thing. Phones record video the way the phone chooses to; if that big spotlight gets in the shot, the phone will darken the rest of the picture to compensate, it’s 100% automatic. It will focus on what it chooses to, it’s just never, ever going to record the sound of the bride and groom’s vows but it will pick up the person next to you, the baby crying in the seat behind, and so on because that is where the microphone is and it’s going to be loud. And it’s shaky….always.

That’s why I spend so much on professional equipment, to have cameras that I control because I have all those years of experience and know instinctively how to get the best shot, to know that it’s all about light and to have that tiny microphone on the groom’s lapel so even if the bride were to whisper “I do”, that microphone will sound exactly as if your ear was right next to the bride’s mouth and that’s how it will sound on the finished film. Audio is just as important as the video itself. I’ll say it again, audio is just as important as the video itself. Anyone can tolerate grainy or shaky video but we are all far less tolerant of bad audio. “What did he say, what was that loud bang, why is the sound distorting?”

Professional microphones avoid all that and really, you won’t even see them on the day. During the speeches, I want to hear every word by any of the speakers as crystal clear as I can and I won’t be relying on the house system. Inevitably, the venue’s supplied microphones and speaker leave a lot to be desired so again, that’s me preparing for the day and knowing how to eliminate or minimize any unwanted situations where bad possibilities can occur…. before they occur!

A good videographer will know what to do, how to do it and when to do it because the last thing he or she ever wants is to have an unhappy client and that’s never happened to me.

The last thing I want you to feel on your wedding day is that you’re on a film set. The wedding is all about yourselves and I make it my duty to be unobtrusive and not get in the way of you, your guests and family. That is ultra important to me. I don’t have loads of equipment, no cables, lights or any of that stuff that people might trip over

There are always two of us and are never in your face with a camera. If you were to tell me at the end of the day that you hardly noticed us, then that would be a comment I hear all the time. I don’t call any shots, I leave that for the photographer. I’m there to film the day as it unfolds in as natural a way as I can, the way it happened.

One thing I can promise you, the wedding day will whizz by in a blur, everyone wanting to congratulate you both because naturally, you two are the very center of attention and the reason why we are all there. You’re going to be exhausted by the end of the day, but in a good way, and next morning, you’ll probably be unable to remember much of the day before in detail.

But if you had hired us to film the whole day, then that won’t be a problem.

Please do have a look at the testimonials and highlights videos on this East Kent Wedding Video website and hopefully, I’ll be able to add yours soon.